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The Next Fifty Years

Science in the First Half of the Twenty-First Century

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About this listen

 A brilliant ensemble of the world's most visionary scientists provides 25 original never-before-published essays about the advances in science and technology that we may see within our lifetimes.

  • Theoretical physicist and best selling author Paul Davies examines the likelihood that by the year 2050 we will be able to establish a continuing human presence on Mars.
  • Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi investigates the ramifications of engineering high-IQ, genetically happy babies.
  • Psychiatrist Nancy Etcoff explains current research into the creation of emotion-sensing jewelry that could gauge our moods and tell us when to take an anti-depressant pill.
  • Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins explores the probability that we will soon be able to obtain a genome printout that predicts our natural end for the same cost as a chest x-ray. (Will we want to read it? And will insurance companies and governments have access to it?)

    This fascinating and unprecedented book explores not only the practical possibilities of the near future, but also the social and political ramifications of the developments of the strange new world to come.

    Includes original essays by: Lee Smolin, Martin Rees, Ian Stewart, Brian Goodwin, Marc D. Hauser, Alison Gopnik, Paul Bloom, Geoffrey Miller, Robert M. Sapolsky, Steven Strogatz, Stuart Kauffman, John H. Holland, Rodney Brooks, Peter Atkins, Roger C. Schank, Jaron Lanier, David Gelernter, Joseph LeDoux, Judith Rich Harris, Samuel Barondes, and Paul W. Ewald.

    The Next Fifty Years is also available in print from Vintage.

    • Executive Producer: Laura Wilson
    Producer: Paul Ruben
    Original jacket design: Mark Melnick
    Original jacket photograph: ©NASA/Stone/Getty Images
    ©2002 Vintage Books
    (P)2002 Random House, Inc.     Biological Sciences Science

    Critic reviews

    "The intellectual adventures collected here point to a future that is dazzlingly bright." (Publishers Weekly)
    "These science-authors, many premiere in their field, are clear, provocative, and sure to interest science readers." (Booklist)
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